In The Light

I have been fascinated with tulips since I was a child drawing on any spare paper I could find. I am sure I started with the typical zigzag representation but soon morphed into a more artistic version. I am still striving to find  the perfect tulip painting. Of course If I did that means I would have to stop; where is the fun in that?

She Loves Me

when I taught elementary school I might give an assignment to draw a vase of flowers. Invariably students would draw a vase, several straight lines with separate flowers. I encouraged them to look at a real vase of flowers and observe how the flowers were arranged in masses. The daisy picture above has individual flowers but they are all connected. They are differentiated by edges of petals, greenery and shadows and highlights. Although in a mass our brain sees individual flowers.

Summer Porch

I painted this watercolor some years ago.It hopefully conveys what a warm summer afternoon on a southern porch would be like. It ends up almost a primary color scheme minus the yellow.

Still Life

A few years ago I was one of a few who were asked to illustrate a church cookbook. One of my sections to illustrate was  a section on vegetables. I did several arrangements and this was one of my favorites i guess because I was able to sneak in some flowers!

FULL DISCLOSURE

I remember all those years ago when Earth Day began. It had a kind of hippie like vibe; seems like everything back then did. I admit I wasn't always  aware of  how important it was. As I have grown older I  realize how much we need to take care of the earth. I now am so much more awed by the beauty of flowers and trees. I am lucky to live conveniently near the city with all of its conveniences but suburban enough to hear birds outside my windows and see squirrels scampering up and down trees.Flowers still excite me and am so blessed to be able to paint what I love.

Sunflower Surprise

I used to think there was just one kind of sunflower- the stereotypical large yellow petaled , huge dark brown centered flower of illustrations. I now know of all the varieties. These sunflowers are the milder cousins to those showy flowers. Of course they have as much impact, just a little quieter, introverts!

Crowd Surfing

This is a detail from a larger painting. My favorite thing about the piece and also the larger painting is the relationship between all the colors. The aqua surface beneath the pots is a perfect color to show off the flowers. I could say it was all a perfect plan but sometimes the colors are a trial and error. This time I got it right first try. Lucky!

Old Fashioned Peonies

this watercolor painting of peonies was done a while ago in a class I took in Pennsylvania . The instructor brought in fresh flowers to class each time. It was a pleasure to paint such beauty.

White Wall

This is a small(6x6) painting of some geraniums in an enamel pot. It brings back memories to me of being a young child visiting my aunt who was quite a bit older than my mother.There were several kitchen pans like this one.She lived out in the country and even had an outhouse although she did eventually get an indoor toilet! It was kind of exotic to me but of course I only visited in the summer . I am sure I would have a different opinion if I had to visit the outhouse on a cold night.

Blue Bowl

This is another painting  from the Karen O'Neil workshop in Woodstock ,N.Y last August.She had several still life arrangements set up around the studio and I was drawn to this beautiful glass bowl. It was a little intimidating but I knew I could always wipe it and start over if I needed to. That is the beauty of oil painting vs. watercolor. When I exclusively did watercolors it was hard to remedy a mistake. An important part of painting is observation. I took a long time to look at the bowl. It is amazing how many different colors and shapes are involved in this one  object. Carol  Marine gave some advice in another workshop to not fall in love with your artwork. This one hadn't sold yet on dailypaintworks but I don't mind keeping it around the studio. Something about that blue glass speaks to me .

Charleston Market

My long time friends and I went to Charleston for a girls trip a few years ago.we had a great time in this picturesque city. The market there is very lively and colorful. I noticed this woman intently marking prices on the produce she was selling.She seemed to be the epitome of the strong matriarch .
A striking subject matter for sure..

Cozy Corner

Often  the most ordinary thing can be beautiful. These three pots standing  alone would not make much impact but grouped together make an interesting still life. I think it is about the warmth of the terra cotta paired with the bits of living plants and flowers as a contrast. A kind of cozy corner.